There are a surprising number of vehicles that cannot use traditional snowchains, the types that put chain on the inside of the wheel as well as on the tread. This is usually because there is not enough space between the wheels and the shock absorbers; this can be a problem for ordinary SUVs and 4x4s as well as for high performance cars.

You will find this important information in your car handbook - please check this before using your snowchains! Our database is intended to do the basic work for you but, with so many new vehicles and tyre sizes, it should only ever be treated as a guide.

Tyre size

Please also check your tyre size - if you buy incorrectly-sized chains they will be either too tight or too loose.

Ladder track chains

The good news is that car handbooks usually only refer to "traditional snowchains". Ladder track chains such as the Polaire GRIP and Spikes-Spider range only put chain over the tyre tread, so are not subject to these restrictions. They are also ideal for use on rear wheel drives where there is minimal space between the top of the wheel and the wheel arch.

How do I check my tyre size?

How do I check my tyre size?

You are looking for three numbers (occasionally just two numbers) shown on the edge of the tyre, e.g. 195 / 65 - R15

For info, what do these numbers mean?

195 is the tyre width in mm. 65 is the profile, the distance from the edge of the rim to the top of the tread (the tyre "wall") in mm, expressed as a percentage of the width, i.e. the tyre wall is 127mm high in this example (195 x 65). 15 is the "rim size" in inches (a complicated measurement).

Polaire GRIP polyurethane front-fitting snow chains, size 60

An innovative, easy to use, high performance front-fixing chain system; excellent value for money. They do everything that all other single-fixing ladder track chains do, but better. They're quicker and easier to fit and remove, have excellent grip, and can even be driven on tarmac, making them exceptionally useful, also safer. Suitable for vehicles up to 3.5T

Suitable for almost every vehicle, especially those which cannot use traditional snowchains because there's not enough space behind the wheel, or because there's not enough space to fit them - to fit traditional chains you need to push both your arms into the space between the wheelarch and the top of the wheel

These are unique, high tech, innovative chains - a polyurethane tread, with an Aramid core to give them essential strength

They are unusually quick to fit because they can't get tangled, so no time is taken in getting them ready for fitting

The same adapter fits all wheel bolt / wheel nut sizes from 17mm to 22mm

Suitable for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes

Once set for a particular wheel (which only takes a couple of minutes), they are tensioned against the wheel by moving a flip-over lever

Their patented X-shaped treads (the red parts) will flex as required to maintain the optimum tension on the wheel

They can be driven (for short distances) on tarmac - which will reduce their lifespan but means that users don't keep having to fit and remove chains as the road conditions change, which is a time-consuming, messy and potentially hazardous process, especially in the dark. For example, a city commuter might drive a car with Polaire GRIP from home to the station car park, non-stop, on a mix of soft snow, compacted snow, salted road, compacted snow again, with no risk of getting hands and clothes dirty on the journey. (Snow chains tend to get very dirty if they're not just being used on fresh snow.)

They have all necessary snowchain approvals, including TÜV, ÖNORM (Austria), B26 (France, snowchains compulsory) as well as various car manufacturer / OEM approvals

We think they are excellent.

In much more detail:

We are snow chain specialists, and it’s in this context that we rate Polaire’s GRIP as being the best all round single-point front-fixing car and van snow chain available. If you have also seen the Polaire Steel Grip, which has a steel chain tread system, note that both systems have almost identical performance results. There is an important upgrade to the Polaire Steel Grip, due for next season (2018-19), so we are not stocking it this season (2017-18). The polyurethane tread Polaire GRIP will continue to have the benefit of tarmac use - really useful for typical UK snowfall, or when driving through long Alpine tunnels.

We say “single-point” because the exceptional Spikes-Spider systems are fixed to more than one wheel bolt (Spikes-Spider have a patent on this). In any event, Polaire GRIP are very different to Spikes-Spider because (1) they’re made from Elastollan, a polyurethane thermoplastic, and as such may be driven for short distances on tarmac and (2) they’re much cheaper.

Polaire GRIP are a sensible choice for any type of car or van wheel. Many people choose them because they can also be driven on tarmac – more information is given below – which massively increases their overall usefulness as well as minimising the health and safety risks of frequent fitting and removal.

They are ideal chains for use on vehicles which have a “No fit” for traditional snow chains because of the lack of space behind the wheels, or where there isn’t enough space to push your hands into the space between the top of the wheel and the wheel-arch – you need to be able to do this to fit traditional chains.

Note though that Polaire GRIP are not suitable for use on vans or minibuses with twin rear wheels – you need ‘automatic’ chains for these (e.g. RUD Classic), or AutoSock – no other chain type can be fitted easily.

One reason that Polaire GRIP are so quick to fit is that they can’t get tangled; if you’ve used traditional chains before you’ll know that untangling traditional chains often takes much longer than fitting them!

Every ladder track / front-fixing chain on the market, except for the Spikes-Spider chains, works on the principle of fixing the chain to a single wheel bolt, and bracing against this to hold a chain mesh tightly over the top of the tyre. Polaire’s GRIP does this more efficiently than any other system because:

the same patented adapter fits all wheel bolt / wheel nut sizes from 17mm to 22mm

the standard adapter, working together with a cord tensioning system, is suitable for approximately 95% of alloy rim shapes; shorter and longer adapters are available for the extremes. If we know about alloy rims that need extra adapters we'll tell you - you'll need to choose your car make and model first, then your tyre size. (Note that most other wheel-bolt-fixing chains are supplied with a bag full of different bolts, spacers, and adapters, to take account of different wheel rim shapes; the Polaire GRIP is, in contrast, relatively extremely easy to set up for first time use.)

GRIP chains are held onto the wheel fixings with Dyneema cord – with a breaking strain in excess of 1 tonne!

the Dyneema cord pulley system makes it relatively very easy to tighten the chain against the wheel

they don’t need tensioning every time – you adjust each chain first time out, and from then on you just flip a lever to lock the chain into place at the correct tension

Their performance – their grip - compares with the best metal snow chains, and they're also very strong; the polyurethane tread has a Kevlar / Aramid core, just in case the polyurethane gets scrubbed off under e.g. emergency breaking on tarmac.

Driving on tarmac:

The ability for limited use on tarmac is a significant benefit, especially for example for commuters who are heading from home to the railway station, and experiencing a range of conditions from fresh snow to salted road. Removing chains is usually a dirty business, so people in their work clothes may prefer to fit their chains and leave them fitted – if it’s a short journey, and mostly on snow

We have seen GRIP chains that have done several hundred kilometres on dry tarmac, at a steady 50 km/h, with no damage to the polyurethane, and approximately only 1mm ground off the stainless steel ice grippers

If driving on tarmac, never exceed 30 mph (50 km/h), and generally use common sense about whether to drive with the GRIP fitted or removed. They will of course wear out, which is not a guarantee issue! But if you get to work easily and safely, then this is probably a price worth paying

You can leave the wheel bolt adapter in place in the short term; it doesn’t cause vibration

We're also showing you a range of other winter motoring products which we're selling here at market leading prices, including a snow and ice windscreen protector at only £2.95, a telescopic snow shovel at £9.95, and a snow brush for £6.95 - all of these items are almost essential kit for winter weather, especially we suggest the snow brush. Please click on the links to see pictures and more information.

Delivery charges and arrangements:

Free delivery offer for snow chains! As part of our Snow chains offer this season we have added a free delivery option for all orders including snow chains, except for orders which also include a roof box. It covers all UK addresses except for any delivery address that includes a sea crossing.

See below for our normal delivery arrangements:

We charge a contribution towards delivery costs, depending on what you order, where you live, and how quickly you want the goods.

For most UK addresses, the charge for our two to three day service is £5.50 (£9.50 for orders including a roof box) and our charge for Next Working Day deliveries is £8.50 (£12.50 for orders involving a roof box). AutoSock, shoe chains, RUD i-Sock, and small spare parts, are charged £3.95 (Royal Mail Tracked), £4.95 (Royal Mail Express Tracked) or £5.95 (express courier, usually Next Working Day).

There are different charges for any delivery including a sea crossing, and deliveries to Skye - we will contact you with a quote on receipt of order.

Orders for Next Working Day delivery need to be received by 4.00pm.

There are no deliveries on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays, except for postable items where Royal Mail has a Saturday delivery. Next Working Day orders placed on a Friday will be delivered on the Monday, Next Working Day orders placed on a Saturday will be delivered on the Tuesday.

We are very flexible with our deliveries and will aim to deliver on a day and at an address which suits you. Goods can usually be left without signature - we prefer this with roof boxes. There's a "Special Delivery Instructions" box in the checkout area where we'll ask you to choose a typical instruction and then amend it to suit your particular requirements.

No retailer or courier company can ever "guarantee" a Next Working Day delivery. All courier companies occasionally have the same transport problems as can happen to everyone else, including snow blocked roads, closed roads, traffic jams, mechanical breakdown, an inability to find the delivery address, or to gain access to it if, for example, it's in a block of flats. We work with some of the best couriers in the business, and overall they provide an outstanding service.

Payment options:

We take the following cards, and also PayPal. Please note that the entry on your card statement will be from "The Roof Box Company".

If you would prefer not to pay online, or to pay by cheque, please phone us to place your order.

Secure payments

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There are three parts to our snow chains offer this year:

(1) Clearance prices on many top branded snow chains, including RUD and Thule - an amazing opportunity for those who are quick off the mark! Thule is the biggest brand in the car racks market, but they recently sold their snow chains division, and the same chains are now being sold under the König brand. Thule branded chains have the same specifications as the König branded versions - all that has changed is the name on the chain and the name on the box.

(2) A free UK mainland delivery option for any snow chain order except any orders including a roof box or a sea crossing.

(3) Multibuy discounts - significant discounts if you buy two pairs of snow chains at the same time, or one pair of chains and one pair of AutoSock: If you do either of these things, we will discount the snow chains as follows:

Polaire, RUD, Spikes-Spider and Thule snow chains - at least 10% off!

Maggi snow chains - at least 20% off! Up to 50% off where we have large overstocks.

As usual, you change the quantities in the Shopping Basket.

Snow chain recommendations

We are snow chain specialists, so we stock a large number of brands, and many different types of chain. Regular chain users usually know what they're looking for, and we hope they find it on this site, but many customers ask for further guidance about what they should buy. So here goes:

(1) Please use the filters on the previous page to narrow your choice, and also check out the Basic snow chain information links at the top of the previous page. Note that this year we are aiming to clear our overstocks, offering premium brand chains, including Thule and RUD, at massive discounts, with some at less than cost price. There’s a Clearance filter – it’s worth a look!

(2) The big differences between the European branded chains and most of the Chinese chains are (a) steel quality and (b) attention to manufacturing details. There is a market for cheaper chains than the ones we offer, but it’s not a market we want to be in, especially as the price differences between questionable and good are often only about £20.

(3) These are our recommendations for different types of snow chain, based on many years’ experience of testing and using chains:

Chains for cars / small vans

Traditional basic chains: Look for Thule CB series chains being sold off cheap. They have the same specifications as the latest König version, just a different brand name, so this is a great opportunity to grab a bargain. (Thule have sold their snow chains business to König.) Otherwise, the Polaire XP9 (cars) are good value at under £50.

Traditional self-tensioning chains: Thule CG-9, Thule CL-10, Thule CS-10 if available - see above. If they've sold out, choose the RUD easy2go, because easy2go are strong, well made, and the bungee type of self-tensioning system is the most reliable. If these are also sold out, the König CG-9 chains really are good, with a clever self-tensioning system.

Chains for SUVs / heavy 4x4s / medium and large vans

Traditional basic chains: Check Clearance for Thule XB-16, Maggi RAPID-MATIC V5, RUD Grip V. If sold out, then without hesitation we recommend the Polaire XP16 – a really well specified chain at an excellent price, with innovative packaging.

Traditional self-tensioning chains: Thule XG-Pro, or the König XG-Pro if the Thule are not listed.

Ladder track chains / front-fixing chains: look at both the Polaire GRIP and the Spikes-Spider systems. The GRIP has many unique features, most obviously their polyurethane tread which allows them to be driven (at low speed) on tarmac - customers who are basically dressed for office work will really appreciate this. The Spikes-Spider SPORT (vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes) are the fastest to fit and remove, and can be resized. Both models are ideal for quick and easy fitting to vehicles which don’t have enough space in the wheel arch to get your hands in to fit traditional chains. The Polaire GRIP are at the leading edge of snow chain design; they’re outstanding.

Drivers of very heavy 4x4s and large vans should check out the equally fast-fitting Spikes-Spider ALPINE Pro, choice (for example) of many emergency services in Germany and Switzerland, effectively turning tyres into tracks.

Here are a few fitting tips which we hope will help you to get the best from these excellent snow chains:

First time fitting: In summary, you need to get each chain onto its wheel and then adjust the length of the Dyneema cord; once this is done, future fitting will only require you to push the chain over the top and sides, clip onto the adapter, and flip the lever.

In detail:

Remove any plastic covers from one wheel bolt/nut on each wheel

It's easier to use the separate Allen key provided to fit each adapter, but the Allen key on the end of the connector is always there as a backup

Place the chain over the top of the wheel in an X shape, as in "10 minutes to 2"

Take up some of the slack in the cord by turning the tensioning wheel - it's much easier to turn the wheel from both sides, using e.g. one thumb and one finger, than to try and do all the work with your thumb - see picture = Fitting tip (1)

Flip the red tensioning lever, move the vehicle half a wheel revolution, and push the remaining chain over the top of the wheel. Now it's time to tension it correctly

The correct tension is someway beyond the perpendicular, maybe about 110 degrees, as shown in picture = Fitting tip (2)

Other fitting tips:

When you clip the connector to the adapter, the cord should be close to the centre of the wheel

It's a lot easier to flip the tensioning lever if you use your other hand to apply some pressure to the ring, see picture = Fitting tip (3)

Remove the adapters when you no longer need to use the chains but, if it's snowy weather, and you're expecting to be fitting them again soon, and you aren't going to be travelling at high speed, then it makes sense to leave them in place

And finally, a reminder that the maximum permitted speed with the chains fitted is 30mph (50km/h).